SPEAKERS OF THE RHAPSODY JEHOVAH The Celestial Hosts The Nations Cyrus Israel Zion The Servant of Jehovah The Prophetic Spectator The Redeemer of Zion The Watchmen of Jerusalem Impersonal Voices, Cries, Hymns The movement of a Rhapsodic drama is not localised to any scene 128 PRELUDE A CRY OF COMFORT FOR JERUSALEM JEHOVAH Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; that she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. [Voices carry on the tidings across the desert to Jerusalem A VOICE OF ONE CRYING Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the LORD, And every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the rough places plain : And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Cry! A SECOND VOICE (in the distance) A DESPAIRING VOICE What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, The flower fadeth, Because the breath of the LORD bloweth upon it: Surely the people is grass! THE SECOND VOICE The grass withereth, The flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever. FOURTH VOICE (still more distant) O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! |